Episode 221: And the Winner Is...
When the Chief Elder dies in the process of naming Baby Sinclair, his last words becoming the baby's name (Ahh Ugh I'm Dying You Idiot), Earl becomes embroiled in an intense but unsurprisingly non-substantive campaign with B.P. Richfield for Chief Elder of Pangaea: first as Richfield's patsy, and later as a self-made, come-from-behind candidate bent on preventing a bleak homeland under what appears to be Richfield's imminent rule. Story Earl and Fran take the unnamed baby to the Chief Elder to be named in a sacred ceremony. Unfortunately, the Chief Elder suffers a health problem during the naming, and inadvertently dubs the baby "Ahh Ugh I'm Dying You Idiot" (the first two words sounds as he dies, with the last phrase aimed at the oblivious clerk recording the name). With the office of the Chief Elder now open, Richfield throws his hat in the ring, and makes Earl run as his opponent. Earl opens his campaign with a bumbling speech that concludes with him singing "How Lovely to Be a Woman." Fran is appalled that Earl is taking Richfield's orders, but Earl is nonplussed. That night, however, he has a dream in which he realizes the consequences of allowing Richfield to win the election, namely having to live on the streets due to a radically reduced minimum wage. Following the dream, Earl becomes determined to win the race, which is being covered by Howard Handupme and correspondent Edward R. Hero at DNN. Earl realizes that he does not have an adequate understanding of the political issues, but takes Roy's advice to appeal to the voters by introducing his family. Earl avoids Howard's questions by introducing his family members (including a dog named Checkers). Howard calls Earl out on his dodging of the issues, but the opinion polls show a swing in Earl's direction anyway. Earl is exuberant that he is poised to win the election, but then has a dream that he would not be capable of handling the numerous responsibilities of the job. At the final debate before the election, Earl encourages voters not to vote for him, but also says that they shouldn't vote for Richfield as he is absolute evil and also confesses that he was picked by him to lose after Earl exposes the truth Richfield loses his temper and tries to kill him with three dinosaurs trying to restraint him. When the results come in, both Earl and Richfield have received a significant amount of votes, with Richfield gaining a slight majority, but both are beaten by a landslide write-in vote for Edward R. Hero. The episode concludes with the baby telling Hero, "I'm the baby, gotta love me" at another naming ritual and Hero deciding that he should be named Baby Sinclair. Earl realizes that he could have done the job after all. Guest Stars * Jason Bernard (Edward R. Hero) Notes *Taped: February 14, 1992 *Sam McMurray doubles as the voices of Roy and the dying Chief Elder. *When Earl and Fran are waiting for Baby Sinclair to be assigned a name, Earl asks how they could have forgotten to give the baby a name, and Fran provides a list of events from previous episodes: Earl having to learn the mating dance ("The Mating Dance"). Grandma Ethyl moving in ("Hurling Day"), The kids getting Sparky ("Employee of the Month"), Robbie's Howling ("The Howling"), Charlene growing her tail ("Charlene's Tale"), and the family's stint on a game show ("Family Challenge"): "It seems like every week, something happens to our family!" Video releases *Don't Cross the Boss! (VHS) *Dinosaurs: The Complete First and Second Seasons __NOWYSIWYG__ 221